Doyle indicates EDS likely to stay state contractor

Madison -- Here's another update on the accidental disclosure of Social Security numbers in mailings to 260,000 Medicaid recipients earlier this month:

Gov. Jim Doyle said this week the company responsible for the mailing, EDS Corp. of Plano, Texas, has done good work for the state in the past. The company has run the state's Medicaid program since the 1970s, but officials have left open the possibility of canceling the state's contract with the company. In Mequon this week Doyle said EDS "has done very solid work for the state for decades and decades. We now have to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Meanwhile, some people who were acting with power of attorney and trying to sign up for credit monitoring on behalf of someone else reported problems. State Department of Health and Family Services spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis said state officials they found out about that problem late Wednesday and contacted EDS to fix it, saying "this was not acceptable." EDS has been in touch with Equifax to help those with power of attorney sign up and said the issue is now being rectified.

Registration for credit monitoring can be done over the Internet, by phone or through the mail.

Equifax is also providing TTY and translation services for individuals, state officials said. For those who are having trouble navigating the process, staffers on the EDS hotline can walk callers step by step through the sign up process.

The Assembly Committee on Consumer Protection and Personal Privacy has set a hearing
on the matter for 10 a.m. Jan. 24. The hearing will also review a
Department of Administration mailing that disclosed the Social Security
numbers of up to 5,000 taxpayers in northeastern Wisconsin. The state
Department of Revenue said that as of late Wednesday, 285 people had
signed up for credit monitoring due to that incident.

Dan Benson and Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.